


Recursive

by Lady_Ganesh



Category: Weiss Kreuz
Genre: Between Seasons/Series, Clairvoyance, Community: weissvsaiyuki, M/M, On the Run
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-15 15:16:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2233779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/pseuds/Lady_Ganesh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagi and Mamoru get caught up in cause and effect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recursive

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://lindentreeisle.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://lindentreeisle.livejournal.com/)**lindentreeisle** for looking this over.

Takatori Mamoru had had many expectations in his life. Dying young had been the one that had lasted the longest. But he’d had to let that one go.

There were promises in Mamoru’s life again, for the first time in a long time. Grandfather had promised Mamoru that he would be doing work. Useful, important work, the kind that could change the world, without having to risk his life on a weekly basis. He'd given him his name back. For a little while, Mamoru thought his life would have a meaning it had never had before. Purpose. Drive.

What Mamoru was _actually_ doing was sitting around a castle filled with things he was trying not to think about too much, with Grandfather's attendants coming in to check on him once in a while, like he was an interesting animal that had to be tended to. "Awful" was a strong word. Maybe Mamoru should go with "boring." At least Grandfather had promised that Aya, Ken and Yohji would be all right, whether they wanted to keep working or not. That was as much, Mamoru figured, as any of them could expect.

He found an old bicycle in the groundskeeper's shed and decided not to ask permission to go off the compound. He could go where he wanted to, pretty much, though he kept his phone on and money in his wallet, just in case.

He bought some books that he thought Grandfather would approve of and read them all, then bought books he wasn't sure Grandfather would approve of, and then stopped caring about it altogether and just picked what looked interesting. He took some day trips, ate junk food, watched movies.

He was coming out of _Jurassic Love III: Lasting Love_ when he saw Naoe Nagi.

_What is he--_

They locked eyes for a second and held their expressions neutral. Mamoru could hear his own blood pounding in his ears. He wanted to put his hand up to protect himself, as if that would help. He had a few darts in his jacket, but he didn't go out with the crossbow. Not safe.

Nagi made a gesture with his chin, not quite shaking his head. _No._

Well. They apparently weren't going to try to kill each other. That was good, right? Pretend not to see him, or nod like acquaintances?

He was still weighing both options when the shots rang out.

He hit the sidewalk, but the bullets stopped before they made impact. He glanced over at Naoe.

Naoe shrugged. He looked as confused as Mamoru.

They ran together, matching one another's path and pace through some kind of unspoken agreement, and wound up in an alley, their backs at the wall, catching their breath and looking at one another warily. "I don't know what--”

"That makes two of us," Naoe said. The alley was open on both sides, and Naoe kept turning his head back and forth to check the exits.

"Anyone trying to kill you?"

Naoe's smile was wry. "You remember the Elders? The ones who wanted to put a demon into your friend's sister? We worked directly for them, but there were more where that came from, and they don't like to lose."

"Great," Mamoru said. He'd kind of lost track of who was trying to kill him. He checked his phone for messages.

"You should turn that off," Naoe said.

Back in the day, there might have been a warning from Weiss or Manx. Now there was nothing. He nodded and shut it off. "What about you?" he said. "Your team--"

"Europe," he said, in a tone that indicated that was where the discussion should begin and end. "I didn't see anything. Could be after either of us."

"If they think we were together, it could be both of us."

"Great," Naoe said.

Mamoru shoved his phone in his jacket and grabbed a dart, just in case. "I can lie if it'll make you feel better."

Naoe shook his head, a quick gesture before he went back to his unending scan. "Have any weapons?"

"Darts."

"How many?"

He’d counted when he put his phone away. "Four."

To his surprise, Nagi didn’t seem to dismiss them as useless. "What did you see?"

"Nothing useful. Bullets from one direction, probably the roof, but whoever was there was well-hidden."

Naoe nodded. “Yeah, that’s about what I had.”

What now? Split up? Stay together until the threat was isolated?

The wall just behind Nagi exploded.

The shock wave knocked his hearing out for a few moments. The debris hung in the air, frozen, Mamoru assumed, by telekinesis. Naoe mouthed something at him. Mamoru shook his head, uncomprehending.

Naoe repeated the last word. _Run._

 _Right._ Mamoru dug a pair of darts from his jacket and headed north. There was a man waiting for them at the end of the alley, but Mamoru had been expecting that, and dropped him with a dart. Naoe caught up with him and his eyes went wide. _I'm not totally useless,_ Mamoru thought with grim satisfaction.

Something whizzed past his ear; a bullet, he realized. Naoe opened his hand and smirked as the tiny pellet of metal fell from his grip. Mamoru didn't need to read minds to figure out what _that_ meant.

So were the killers assuming they were together, or did they just want Mamoru out of the way? No time to answer that question. Just go. Just run.

On the upside, Mamoru knew Tokyo's alleyways by heart. He'd run through some of them blindfolded when he was training. Easy. Nagi kept pace with him. For a second Mamoru wondered what he was thinking, if he was wondering what Mamoru was thinking. There was a metro station about half a mile north that could be reached without ever breaking cover. As long as Nagi could clear the alleyways, they'd be fine.

"I assume you have a plan," Nagi said, about halfway there.

"I have a destination," Mamoru said. "Hadn't really made it to a plan yet."

Apparently it was better than whatever Nagi had, because he said nothing more until they were underground. Then he shoved past Mamoru and bought a set of passes with cash. "Do you have any money?" he said, as they passed the turnstile and started down the escalator.

Mamoru checked his wallet. "Not much."

As they made their way toward the trains, they walked past a phone booth. As Nagi passed, it started ringing. Nagi walked over and picked it up. _No way,_ Mamoru thought.

Nagi said something Mamoru couldn't catch in English and hung up. He started walking down the next escalator, and Mamoru had to run to catch up.

"That wasn't--"

"Crawford," Nagi said.

"Does he...do that often?"

Nagi shook his head. He hadn't slowed his pace. "Apparently," he said, "one of the remnants of Essett did a little scrying ahead and realized we were going to fuck up one of their plans."

"We?"

Nagi nodded. "Crawford calls it recursive clairvoyance. I'm not completely sure he's using the word right--" He turned to the right, so abruptly almost knocked into Mamoru. "Anyway, what it comes down to is you see something in the future, and if you're not careful you'll take actions that'll make it happen. Crawford thinks that's what's happening."

Mamoru spun that in his head until it sort of made sense. "Oh."

They got on the Ginza line.

"So wait, someone sees us working together in the future, they're trying to stop it but they're actually making us work together?"

"Exactly. It's what happened to...the Sakaki girl." Nagi didn't break pace. "If you see a store with granola bars or anything, stop and buy them. Stuff that won't spoil."

"Oh," Mamoru said, and tried to pretend it didn't feel like he'd just been punched in the gut.

The train was crowded, and the noise and pressure kept Mamoru from thinking for a little while.

They got off the train, took another line. Mamoru didn't really pay attention, he just followed Nagi. They changed lines a few more times, stopped and bought granola bars and bottled water. "Okay," Nagi said at one point, and led him up toward the surface.

Mamoru could smell the port when they came up. Nagi led him out toward the docks. "You were supposed to kill me," Mamoru said. "When she died."

"No," Nagi said. "Schuldig was supposed to hit your arm, take you out briefly. Instead, Farfarello had the gun, and shot your sister."

"My cousin," Mamoru corrected, but he wasn't sure Nagi heard.

"And then Schuldig had to give himself a migraine convincing Takatori he'd beat both of them to a pulp. As it was, they were bruised for days."

"I hope you don't expect much sympathy," Mamoru said.

"We're killers," he said. "You know that."

It was harder to answer that.

"We didn't want her dead. I mean, they didn't lose sleep over it, but...." Nagi sighed. "Apparently we're going to be working together. So you ought to get used to it. Not like Weiss didn't--"

"I know," he said. "Where are we going?"

"Crawford says we need to be out of the country."

"You trust him?"

Nagi nodded. "And I don't know enough to want to stick around here. Easier to get clear first."

Made sense. "I'm going to get a message to Grandfather, then," he said. "I'll put my phone on another ship."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"That someone's trying to kill me and I'm going to handle it."

"Will he believe you?"

That was a good question. "Does it matter?"

Nagi shrugged. "Come on," he said.

"What about your phone?"

"No one should be tracking me," he said.

"No one should've taken a shot at you."

"Crawford used a pay phone, too," Nagi said, and pulled the phone out of his pocket. "No. You're right. I liked it, too. Finally had the settings the way I wanted...." He pulled out the SIM card and held it in his hand for a second, closing his fist around it as it got smaller and smaller. Finally, when it was a tiny ball of metal, he tossed it in a trash can as they walked. He smirked a little when he saw Mamoru's expression. "What, did you want it?"

Mamoru just shook his head. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know. You shouldn't either."

Mamoru paused. "Wait, we can't just--"

"If you don't know, they can't take it out of your head."

"What if it's halfway across the ocean?"

"They'll have a crew and food." Nagi had the ghost of a smile on his face. "You can handle yourself, can't you?"

"I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Then don't hurt anyone."

Mamoru didn't see an alternative, so he followed Nagi to the docks.

Nagi opened a shipping container as easily as a can of soda. "Come on."

It felt a little like sitting in a can of soda, too, once Nagi had smashed the cartons of plastic into a living space that suited him. Mamoru wished they'd thought to bring blankets as well as food.

"You want to take first watch?" Nagi asked. "We should rest while we can."

"Sure," Mamoru said, wondering how quickly he would lose track of the hours without his phone. His watch was still on his wrist - no time to pawn it without drawing attention - and the high-end Citizens had no glow features. At this point it was a bracelet that ticked. Maybe he could pawn it at...wherever they were going to.

He couldn't argue with Nagi's reasoning, but it made it no less frustrating.

Nagi curled up in a pile of plastic tubes that had been labeled _medical use only._ Mamoru heard the container doors sliding back in place. "Don't fall asleep," he said. "When you think you're about--"

"I've slept in shifts before, thank you," Mamoru snapped.

Nagi didn't say anything more, but Mamoru could hear his breathing even out. He leaned back against the side of the container.

He still didn't really know anything about the world Nagi had come from. It had been easy enough after the tower fell to pretend that that Eszett and its psychically powered agents hadn't even existed.

But now they were trying to kill him, which pretty much ruined that strategy.

He flipped through the reports he'd filed for Kritiker in his mind's eye, adding the details he'd left out in the early days, when he was afraid that Manx and Persia would think he was going insane. Crawford could, by all appearances, see into the future. Schuldig could read minds and make other people do his bidding, at least for a little while. Farfarello appeared impervious to nerve agents, and possibly pain.

And then there was Nagi.

Mamoru still remembered his head slamming into the wall. He'd probably lost a few IQ points with that disaster.

Nagi snored a little bit. Mamoru wondered if he could jostle him without getting his neck snapped. He decided to live with the annoyance.

When the boredom finally started shading into sleepiness, he said, "Naoe?"

Nagi slept on. Mamoru tried tapping him gently with the medical tubing.

A snort.

"Naoe?"

"Time?"

"Yeah," he said. "I don't want to get overtired."

"Thanks," Nagi said.

Mamoru tried to make his own little nest of medical tubing. Mostly he felt uncomfortable and hot. "We have enough oxygen in here?"

"Probably...." The top of the container opened a little, and a sharp stab of sunlight came in. "Shit," he said. "I won’t keep it open long. If we’re lucky, we’re far enough out no one will notice us anyway.”

"Thanks." He took his jacket off and wadded it under his head. That helped a little.

 

He woke up on his own; it was hard to tell how much later, as the storage container was still dark. _This thing is going to smell disgusting after a few days,_ he thought.

"You want me to take over?" he offered. "I'm probably not going to go back to sleep for a while." He sat up. It was hard to feel oriented in a moving ship, in the dark.

"I'm fine," Nagi said.

"Crawford didn't say anything about how long--"

"You know what I know," Nagi said. "More or less."

Mamoru heard a wrapper being rustled.

Nagi said, "Here," and Mamoru realized he was shoving a granola bar at him. "Let me know when you need to piss. At least I can empty that outside the container. And anything else. Do you get seasick?"

"Not normally," Mamoru said.

"Good," Nagi said, with audible satisfaction.

"So," Mamoru said. "We get to destination unknown. Then what?"

"Then we do some searching. I assume you have some contacts in Japan who won't immediately turn you in?"

"I'll be fine," Mamoru said, though his contact list was remarkably thin at the moment. Yohji would help, though, and was smart enough to do it without attracting much attention. "You?"

"I can still get into Eszett's files. If they're trying to track me that way...."

"Yes?"

"...yeah, you can't see anything, either. Pretend I smirked or something."

Mamoru laughed.

"It's not funny," Nagi said, but there was humor in his voice, too.

"I keep trying to look at my watch."

Nagi snorted.

Mamoru realized the tension between them had eased, if only a little. He bit into his granola bar. It tasted mostly like cardboard, but that wasn't the point.

"So...what are you doing?"

"Eating?"

"No," he said. "You...still with Weiss?"

"No," he said. "Grandfather wants me to join Kritiker. But I'm not sure what he wants me to do once I’m there." He pulled his knees up and sat up a little more; his back was going to start aching if he wasn't careful. "What about you?"

"I've got some savings. I've mostly been trying to blend in. For all the good it did me."

"Maybe they were after me."

"Who fucking knows?" Mamoru heard him sigh. "I was getting bored anyway."

"Me too," Mamoru confessed.

 

More time passed. Nagi opened the storage container in the light, and Mamoru's watch told them two days had gone by. They checked their stock of energy bars and water. "Two more days, maybe three," Nagi said.

"You sure that's enough?"

Nagi frowned at him. "Why not?"

"I dunno," he said. "Seems like...doing what you do would use a lot of energy."

"It's not bad," Nagi said. "I'll be okay. Mostly I'll need more sleep than you."

Mamoru hadn't even noticed. "All right," he said. "Let me know, though. If you need more or whatever."

Nagi nodded and closed them back in.

They had nothing to do, so they started talking. Simple stuff at first. They probably spent two hours on the Jurassic Love series, and Mamoru almost wanted to start laughing again at the sheer absurdity of it.

But it got more serious as the time passed.

Mamoru talked about school. About Ouka, eventually. About the father who was his uncle and the father who was...too many things, but never a father.

Nagi talked about an orphanage and a nun. About kids who threw rocks. About Rosenkreuz, where he was trained. "All of you?"

"Yeah," Nagi said. "All of us. Schuldig got off easiest, he was good at telling people what they wanted to hear. Crawford learned fast, I guess. But it made him angry." Mamoru could hear him rustling in the plastic tubing. "I guess I was lucky, though. It made him angry enough he wanted out."

"But he's the one who brought you in too, right?"

"Someone else would have," he said. "At least he had an exit strategy."

It was Mamoru's turn to sleep. It was getting harder to sleep, and impossible to keep track of time unless Nagi opened up the shipping container and they caught enough light to check his watch. Mamoru wasn't even sure he wanted to know any more.

 

He woke struggling, his mind screaming, fighting to breathe. One of Nagi's hands was over his mouth, the other gripping his arm. "You're dreaming," Nagi said urgently. "It's a nightmare. Just a dream. A dream."

His eyes flew open, but there was nothing to see. He was--

"You're safe," Nagi said. "You're safe."

Mamoru shoved Nagi's hand away and fought to breathe.

"Shit," Nagi said. "Did I--"

"It's okay," he gasped. "Was I yelling?"

"Kind of," Nagi said.

His heart was pounding, too. He thought back--

Oh. _That_ dream. He hadn't had that one in years, and hadn't missed it. "I'm sorry," he said. "Do you think--"

"You weren't loud," Nagi said. "You were getting loud. That's why-- you're okay?"

"Yeah," Mamoru said. "I'm okay. Would you mind just-- just opening it up for a minute?"

The door slid back. It was night, but it was clear, and Mamoru could see stars and moonlight. That was better.

"Thank you," he said.

"Kind of nice out," Nagi said. His voice was calm, almost gentle.

Of anything Mamoru would have expected of Naoe Nagi, the last thing would have been kindness.

They both sat in the darkness, looking up at the stars.

 

 

When the ship came into shore, it came as a shock. Everything held horribly, strangely still for a second, and Mamoru realized it was Nagi's power. Nagi must have been startled, too.

Nagi opened the container, just enough so they could see it was dark. "Overcast," Nagi said, with some satisfaction. "We might be able to do this clean."

"We don't have enough for a motel," Mamoru said. "We'll have to do something."

"I can open up an ATM machine when we get to shore," Nagi said.

"Oh," he said. "Of course." He felt kind of stupid.

"Shit," Nagi said. "Fresh air."

"I just want a shower. And to never use a bucket again."

"That too."

 

Getting out was actually easier than moving in, thanks to the dark and Mamoru's experience with stealth. He had to yank Nagi back a few times -- it was clear Rosenkreuz had been more about strolling in and wreaking havoc than sneaking around -- but together they made it to shore.

Mamoru's legs didn't work properly for the first few minutes, and Nagi ended up putting an arm out to steady him.

"Cash," he said. "And then somewhere to sleep. And food. I'd kill for okonomiyaki. Or a hamburger. Or Palatschinken. I haven't had that in years."

"Stop talking about food. Where do you think we are?"

"I don't even care any more," Nagi said. "I just hope no one's trying to kill us."

They managed to figure out they were either in China or Taiwan, but that was as far as they got before the exhaustion caught up with them. Mamoru picked the pocket of a loudmouthed dockworker -- much more discreet than a broken ATM -- and they came up with enough for some street food and a place to stay.

By the time he hit the bed, he'd been running on instinct for a good half hour.

 

 

He woke up alone. The inside of his mouth felt like he'd been chewing on cotton balls. The shower was running. And no one had killed him yet. At the very least, it wasn't a _bad_ sign.

The room smelled funny. Like disinfectant. Well, more like disinfectant poured over something horrible.

Even that smelled better than the clothes he was still wearing.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

Breakfast. Breakfast would be good. Maybe it would be safe to go out.

He closed his eyes for a second.

When he woke up again, Nagi was out of the shower, sitting on the end of the bed and flipping through a newspaper in a language Mamoru didn't immediately recognize. He had a towel around his waist and a second one over his shoulders. "I don't think they know where we are," he said, without moving his eyes.

"Great," Mamoru said. There was grit in his eyes again. "Where are we?"

Nagi's mouth almost turned up at one corner. "Taiwan."

"Okay," Mamoru said, and got up. He pissed and showered, and wished intently for clothes that were at least remotely clean. He threw a towel around his waist instead. They were as thin as tissue and also smelled like disinfectant, but at least that meant they were clean.

"I didn't know you worked out," Nagi said, still not moving his eyes from the paper.

"Did you feel me up in your sleep or something?" Mamoru said. He took another pass at his hair with the towel, for all the good it was going to do. "You're not even looking at me."

Nagi looked up, and suddenly Mamoru knew he had Nagi's full, complete attention. "You want me to?"

"I--" Mamoru swallowed. Something fluttered in his stomach and dropped lower.

Nagi put the paper down, very, very slowly.

Mamoru thought about asking _what are you doing_? but he hadn't lived as long as he had without some instincts for self-preservation. He watched as Nagi's eyes stayed on his face, then slowly, slowly moved down to the towel.

"Better?" Nagi asked.

Mamoru reached down and pulled the towel loose. "Is it?"

"We should eat," Nagi said. "We're probably suffering malnutrition or something." But his eyes hadn't left Mamoru's body.

"You want...."

"Yeah," Nagi said, "Yeah, I want." He crossed the space between them with astonishing speed.

Mamoru put his hand up out of instinct, just in time to catch Nagi's chest. Nagi wasn't exactly out of shape himself, and Mamoru slid his hand up to Nagi's shoulder to pull him closer.

Nagi kissed him, hard, his arms wrapping around Mamoru's back, and it was almost like they'd been waiting for this, like this was finally letting your breath out after holding it to the point of pain. Mamoru felt his ass hitting the mattress before he even realized he was dropping. He pulled Nagi's mouth closer, kissing back for real, yanking Nagi's towels away so he could feel Nagi's chest against his.

Nagi almost had a beard by now, and it felt rough against Mamoru's face. Mamoru moaned, and it felt a little ridiculous, but Nagi felt too good for him to care. Nagi muttered something and tried to straddle him, but Mamoru had been too confined for too long, and they finally found balance on their sides, facing each other, Nagi's hand wrapping around their cocks and thrusting.

It felt amazing.

"Can I--?" Nagi asked, and Mamoru nodded, not even caring what he was asking.

Nagi flipped them both, straddled Mamoru, pushing him into the mattress, groaning. Mamoru opened his mouth and Nagi kissed him again. And then it felt like Mamoru was being stroked by a hundred hands, not just two, and Mamoru realized Nagi was using his power. His heart beat faster. It felt too good to be weird. He writhed against the pressure, moaning again, and Nagi growled deep in his throat and picked up the pace of his hand.

"Please," Mamoru managed to stammer, though he couldn't have said what he was asking for.

What he got made the top of his head feel like it was about to blow off, and the rest of his body was left shaken. Nagi finished just after him, gritting his teeth, and then the pressure was gone.

"Oh," Mamoru said. Nagi rolled off him. They both stared up at the ceiling for a minute, breathing.

"I'm even hungrier now," Nagi said.

"I bet this place doesn't have breakfast in the lobby."

"I bet if it does, we don't want to eat it."

Nagi sighed. "I'll throw my clothes back on. Do we have any money left?"

"Yeah."

"Food first. I'll get myself something clean if there's anything left over. We're about the same size."

Mamoru glanced over to confirm and spent far too long just taking stock of Nagi's body, his chest, stomach, cock. "Yeah."

"I'll get you something clean, then you can get me clothes. Maybe a razor, your stubble's half white. You think you can lift another wallet?"

Mamoru grinned. "What do you think I am, an amateur?"

"We need a laptop."

"I'll get it."

"Okay," Nagi said, and got out of bed. "Food."

"Money's in my pocket."

He watched Nagi wrinkle his nose as he got back into his clothes. They looked almost as bad as they smelled. "I'm going to burn these," he said.

"Good plan."

"All right," Nagi said, and disappeared into the bathroom. "Food. Clothes. Laptop. Then we find these people and kill them."

"Better plan."

Nagi flashed him a smile. Mamoru's heart stalled, just for a second, just a little. "I'll be back," he said, and to Mamoru's surprise, he believed Nagi, completely.

 _Whoever they are,_ Mamoru thought to himself as the door closed, _I don't think this is going to turn out the way they planned._


End file.
